Nature provides many resources that can be used to reduce dependence on coal, oil, gas, and nuclear for powering our homes, offices, factories, and modes of transportation. Solar and wind power have been the most used natural resources to supplement coal, oil, gas, and nuclear for powering and heating homes, offices, and factories. Prototypes for gathering energy from waves and tides have also been constructed and are being evaluated as a supplement to coal, oil, gas and nuclear as well. In addition, much work has been done in the area of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) cells for supplementing the grid (P. Fairley, “How Rooftop Solar Can Stabilize the Grid,” IEEE Spectrum, February 2015, p 10.). Solar powered PV cells have shown the most promise when it comes to providing electric power for planes and drones (http://info.solarimpulse.com/en/our-adventure/solar-impulse-2/#.VlzB9GaFPIU), (http://www.gizmag.com/solara-uav-atmospheric-satellite/28886/).
There is another natural resource that has not been mined as an alternate source of energy: the earth's magnetic field. With average field strength approximately 0.5×10−4 Tesla (T) around the world, it is easy to see why this resource has been overlooked. If a system to mine the earth's magnetic field is developed for a plane or drone using moving electrical wire after Faraday then Maxwell, even the most efficient aluminum wire requires an impractical length to generate a small amount of power at a usable voltage. As good as the electrical properties of aluminum wire are, they are not sufficient for this application. It is clear that a disruptive technology is needed to mine the earth's magnetic field to power planes and drones in lieu of solar PV technology.
Such a disruptive technology, graphene (The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, “Scientific Background on the Nobel Prize in Physics 2010,” Kungl. Vetenskaps-Akademien, 5 Oct. 2010.) which is used in EcoCharge, is now at an early stage of development. Graphene has excellent electrical properties in the form of high conductivity and low resistivity, is extremely strong and durable, and is relatively inexpensive. It is now being produced in sheets (http://www.graphene-info.com/sony-developed-new-r2r-method-make-graphene-produced-100-meter-long-sheet) large enough to be used for EcoCharge. In addition, MIT has set up an industrial scale graphene printing press in its graphene lab (http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/mit-setting-up-industrial-scale-graphene-printing-press.php) and Purdue University spin-off BlueVine Graphene Industries, Inc. (http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2014/Q3/purdue-based-startup-scales-up-graphene-production,-develops-biosensors-and-supercapacitors.html) produced roll-to-roll graphene before losing funding with the founders continuing research and development at Purdue's Birk Nanotechnology Center. In addition, novel research (A. Chakrabarti, J. Lu, J. C. Skrabutenas, T. Xu, J. A. Maguire, and N. S. Hosmane, “Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Few-Layer Graphene,” J. Mater. Chem, 2011, 21, 9491.) aims to contribute to the reversal of global warming by converting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to sheets of graphene. Finally, the European Union has selected graphene research and development as one of its ten year objectives with funding of approximately one billion dollars.
The unique feature of graphene for mining the earth's magnetic field is its ability to conduct electricity in low resistivity, two-dimensional sheets. In effect, graphene is a two-dimensional “wire” that will generate current proportional to its resistivity, area, and orientation and motion with respect to the earth's magnetic field. As will be shown below, these properties provide a significant multiplier to earth's weak magnetic field yielding a feasible source of ecologically clean electric power for planes and drones. Not only is it ecologically clean but it is constant, day and night, through typical plane (39,000 ft.) and drone (65,000 ft.) altitudes (https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/DoDWMM.shtml) solving the solar regulation problem faced by current solar powered planes and drones from night time loss of sunlight.
EcoCharge units convert earth's magnetic field to electrical current continuously powering planes and drones. Planes and drones are general categories including all types of airborne vehicles. The basic EcoCharge concept of using graphene for the conversion medium was taught by U.S. Pat. No. 9,130,414 B2, EcoCharge System With Layered Graphene Sheets for Generating EMF From the Earth's Magnetic Field to Power Electric Vehicles, Sep. 8, 2015. Many of the present EcoCharge Powered Plane and Drone implementation techniques are also taught by U.S. Pat. No. 9,130,414 B2 and will be noted herein. As will be shown below, the EcoCharge Planes and Drones application is enough different from U.S. Pat. No. 9,130,414 B2 to warrant a separate patent application. For the vehicle mounted application, U.S. Pat. No. 9,130,414 B2, EcoCharge units are mounted on the axles and driveshaft of the vehicle, orthogonal to one another and with obvious size and weight restrictions, in order to generate electrical power when the vehicle is moving at any orientation to the earth's magnetic field. For the present plane and drone application, it is a matter of replacing many heavy PV cells and complex wiring with much lighter weight, simply wired orthogonal EcoCharge units allowing longer and faster flights with additional capabilities such as more cargo and passengers.